Odell Ten Paces Huckleberry Wild Ale

Odell Brewing Company got started in 1989 in the town of Fort Collins, Colo. The history goes back a bit further than that, however, when founder Doug Odell began working at Anchor Brewing Co. in San Francisco. He carried the brewing passion after leaving Anchor and eventually opened his own brewery along with his wife, Wynne. Odell is currently ranked as the 34th largest craft brewing company according to the Brewers Association.

Today’s beer comes from the Ten Paces Series designed to pay tribute to “the American West and all the things that make it wild.” It is an American-style sour ale brewed with a unique blend of yeasts including Belgian and brettanomyces strains and also features a Rockies regional wildberry, the huckleberry.

It is the last offering in the Ten Paces series to be featured in a 750ml cork-and-caged bottle and comes in at 6.5 percent ABV.

The pour shows a deep crimson red bordering on purple with a slight haze and about an inch of a light pinkish head. It appears that Odell did not hold back on the huckleberry addition. The aroma starts out on the sweet side with a hint of minerality. Some cherry bubblegum flavor is there as well but I am missing those earthy flavors from the brettanomyces. So far, simple but clean.

The taste brings some complexity with oak and fruit tannins and a tiny bit of brettanomyces character. The minerality comes in as salty and blends nice with the generic sweetness from the berries. Across the palate, Huckleberry is very light and very dry but not harsh. The really high carbonation level is helping to cut the sweetness, along with the light chalky salty note, and prevents it from sticking around.

BREWERY: Odell Brewing Co.

LOCATION: Fort Collins, Colo.

STYLE: American Sour Ale

ABV: 6.5 percent

IBU: 12

PRICE: n/a

RELEASE DATE: September 2017

AVAILABLE IN: 750ml Bottles

BEERS POURED: One

Odell’s Ten Paces Huckleberry is a nice clean fairly simple American fruited sour ale. I would like to see some more brettanomyces notes which some cellar time might actually help to create. The fruit flavor is a bit indistinguishable but compliments the flavor profile. I recommend it if you like the fruited sour ale category.

You're here for beer and so am I. In my ever changing fast-paced life beer has been the thing that grounds me. Allows me time to relax, reflect, analyze, and sometimes socialize. Which can be tough for us introverts. Craft beer has helped me experience the world in a way nothing else could. Hell, I wouldn't be writing this right now if it were not for that cold New England night when a friend handed me my first craft beer and I proclaimed "beer can taste this good?" Since then, my love of beer has grown to include Homebrewing and all the fermentation science around it. Professionally, I am an aerospace technician and other interests include luthiery, camping/hiking, photography and playing bass guitar.